We're Supposed to be Dead
by FanFicManic
Summary: This is what you could call my legitimate family. Thalia—she's the oldest. Always telling us left from right. Next, was Jason and Percy. Bianca comes only a year younger than them. A year after her, Hazel. And then, there was me. You might be wondering why a bunch of random names are some family. I can tell you one thing we all have in common. We're supposed to be dead.
1. Chapter 1

We're Supposed to be Dead

~~Introduction~~

This is what you could call my legitimate family. Thalia—she's the oldest. Always telling us left from right. The momma bear. Next, was Jason and Percy. Percy was only older by a few months, really. Bianca comes only a year younger than them. A year after her, Hazel. And then, there was me. You might be wondering why a bunch of random names are some family. I can tell you one thing we all have in common.

We're supposed to be dead.

Chapter One

Thalia scratches behind her ear, before leaning against the stone wall like the rest of us. A little to the left, my left not yours, was a set of stairs so that you could walk on the stone. In front of us, the never-ending sea. It was dark, maybe 10 o'clock? Thalia glances at all of us.  
She was in the middle. I was sitting on her lap. To the left was Hazel, then Bianca. To the right, Jason then Percy. But that's not how it's supposed to go. If everything was in order, it would start with Thalia. She's fourteen, she's the oldest. She tells us what to do, because we don't know what to do. Without her, we'd be chasing our tails, rhetorically of course. Thalia is not easily persuaded. She is stubborn, she likes pie, and she's supposed to be dead.

Percy, he's the optimistic one. Because I'm the youngest, I'm the focus of his optimisticness. If that's even a word. He picks me up and gives me piggy-back rides, and tickles me till I laugh. Thalia always shakes her head and whispers something to Percy. Percy nods, his eyes on the brick of tears. He never gives me a second glance, he just goes off and sits in the water, criss-cross applesauce. And he stares straight ahead, with big, salty tears streaming down his face. He never wipes them away. And Jason and Thalia try to get to him, but it's like they're afraid of the water. No—going in the water. Eventually  
Percy stands up, and walks towards them, and accepts Thalia's "mom" hug and Thalia's says she's sorry. But sorry for what? Percy is seven. He drools in his sleep, he has untameable hair, and he's supposed to be dead.

Jason gets hit in the head a lot, from what I've seen. Not from Thalia, though. From bird poo. I'm not sure why. Thalia knows, so does Percy. Jason knows too. They like secrets. It probably makes them feel special, like, I know something you don't, ha-ha. Jason, he's seven. His blonde hair is dirty—but it's not supposed to be. His hair is supposed to be bright. But the birds had decided otherwise. It was a cycle. They'd poo in his hair, Percy would laugh, but eventually gather some water in a rusty, old bucket and clean out his hair. But Percy's hands are dirty. Eventually, a few weeks later at most, the birds would come back and do it again. The cycle continues. Jason glares at those birds every time they come around. He likes secrets, he needs an umbrella, and he's supposed to be dead.

Bianca was smart. But not book smart. Street smart. She was very persuasive. She can convince a random man to get her McDonald's. She's hyper too. Considering she barely eats. Not that any of us eat much. She likes to walk up to Jason and confront him. About what? The birds. She goes all detective on him and asks him things like why he, Thalia and Percy whisper so much. I can tell you later, because the answer is obvious. Bianca is kind of loud. She admires Thalia too. She once asked Thalia why she was so perfect. Ever since, Thalia lets Bianca help her do things like start fires and stuff. But once, when nobody was watching, Thalia lit the fire so fast, it must've been a world record. It was strange. Once, Jason got to the top of a tree so fast, Nico barely had time to blink. And Percy—once he got water so fast into that bucket—I didn't even see him go to the water. It was like the water came to him. Bianca notices it too. So does Hazel. Bianca was starting to wonder. She was six, she likes human puzzles, and she's supposed to be dead.

Hazel was quiet. She didn't like to talk much, and when she did, it was very quiet. When we go to McDonald's, she always gave her food to me instead of eating it herself. Even though I have food of my own. I'd eat the food hesitantly, but she would smile when I did eat it. It made her happy. I was starting to think she was too nice. She was hungry, I could tell. So I'd insist she should eat it and when she refused, I'd look to Thalia for help. Thalia would make a compromise, and say we should share the food. Hazel has chocolate skin, and she likes to stare at things. But staring at the horizon coming over the sea was her favourite. She'd risk a smile and Bianca and Thalia would sit on either side of her, with their legs crossed. Thalia would gesture for Nico to sit on her lap and Percy and Jason would come sit beside Thalia and we'd be one big, happy family—or as happy as we could get. That was how we always sat. Hazel was five. She is nimble, she is a mouse, and she's supposed to be dead.

Nico. Nico is my name. I'm four years old. That's ten years younger than Thalia, three years younger than Jason and Percy, two years younger than Bianca, and one year younger than Hazel. I guess you could say I'm good at blending in. I'm the master at hide and seek. Sometimes, I can't sleep. I lay on the ground till the sun blinds me and forces me to squeeze my eyes shut. I'm small. Too small for my age. Hazel is_ really_ too small for her age. She's almost smaller than me. I'm pale and skinny no matter how much food Hazel shoves at me. Percy picks me up with such ease, I'm sure I don't weigh much. Sometimes Percy puts me on his shoulders and then he walks over to Thalia, and tells me to tell her she's short. I say it and Thalia rolls her eyes and asks Percy if he knows he's short too. I laugh at Percy's reaction and then Percy announces to everyone that we're playing hide and seek. It's fun. I'm the youngest. I like to laugh, I'm too small, and I'm supposed to be dead.

**I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this story. Let me know if you like it. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, 4 reviews! Thank you so much to Weakness Hunter, Hagan Son of Nike, Bella The Beauty and Made-in-  
Denmark. Here's chapter two!**

Chapter 2

Percy's POV

"I'll take first watch," Thalia offers. It was probably around midnight by now. Thalia tugs at her blue streaked hair. A few months ago, back when it was 3, (you'll learn more about that later), back when people didn't flinch away when they saw how dirty we were, Thalia stole some blue hair dye. She wanted Jason and me to dye the whole thing, so we started in random places. Eventually we ran out, but Thalia loved it anyways. But now, her hair had grown longer, about the size of my thumb, and the blue was fading. They knew Zeus didn't approve. It rained soon after we dyed it. "It's so overgrown," Thalia groans. By now, the youngest three were sleeping in the sand.

Jason shrugs. "It barely reaches your shoulders, Thalia."

I automatically tune out their bickering and look down at the youngest three, momentarily remembering what it was like…to be innocent, to be free of watching your back constantly because you're afraid someone might stab it. I smile. It's a beautiful feeling, but a number of people took it away—stole it and replaced with an eternal weight on my shoulders. That's a lot for a seven year old.

_Maybe, one day, the feeling will come back. _

_Oh, stop being so optimistic, stupid._

_Sorry._

I reach into my pocket and pull out something a mortal bystander would think was a shiny pen. Really, it's a lot more than that. When I uncap it,—it's in a ball point pen form by the way—it turns into a five foot, celestial bronze sword. When I first got it, before I even met Thalia or Jason, I tried to throw it away, but it kept coming back. For a while, I thought it was a curse from, yours truly, butthead ruler of the gods, Zeus. The side reads

_Anaklusmos_. I thought it was Greek for something like Loser, or whatever. But when I met the children of Zeus, Thalia read it for me.

"It says Riptide," she said. As a seven year old girl traveling with nothing but her brother, I was pretty skeptical.

Five year old me frowned, "Oh. Are you sure?"

"Positive."

She taught me to read basic things—obviously I couldn't, I was only a five year old dyslexic when I left—unintentionally, of course. Leaving was kind of a win-lose. Never see Smelly Gabe again, but also, never see my mother again. If you couldn't tell, leaving Gabe was the win.

I shake my head out of my useless thoughts, and stand up swinging the sword. Thalia immediately smirks, "They're sleeping, right?"

I nod, "Uh huh."

Jason raises an eyebrow, "And you're going to practice now?"

"Nope."

Thalia stands, "What, why?"

I cap my sword. "Sometimes, I don't understand why you keep us here."

"I don't understand why you have a problem with it," she retorts.

I lift up my shirt and Thalia immediately flinches. Zeus makes sure my scars never heal. "We can't—" I sigh and drop my shirt. Thalia relaxes. "We can't keep doing this, we have to go, Thalia."

"Go where," Thalia snaps. "We can't go anywhere without those stupid birds following us everywhere!"

Jason looks down and plays with the sand, "Why does dad hate us so much?" he whispers.

Thalia growls as she pulls her hair. "I don't know, but if he doesn't cut the crap—"A thunder clap cuts her off.

I look up to the sky. Grey clouds replaced midnight blue. But these days, wherever we went, the sky was never blue. Not ever since Thalia dyed her hair. Not ever since I was born, really. Lightning streaked across the newly pale sky, and the trees in the distance catch fire.

Thalia glares at the sky before staring at us. She shakes her head, "Some people don't know when to call it quits."

I purse my lips. "He wants us to fight." My voice cracks. "H-he wants us to crumble and go die in a hole."

Thalia looks down, "I'm the oldest, I-I should challenge him." I could imagine Zeus laughing smug as ever on his throne on Olympus, _"Oh daughter, I'd like to see you try."_

Jason stands up and kicks the bucket so hard it flies towards the sea. Percy thrusts his hand out and the water pushes the bucket back towards them. "Don't, my dad may not be as pissed as yours, but you don't want to pollute his territory."

Jason sighs in defeat, "Why is Zeus so mad at us again?"

Thalia purses her lips, "He's mad at us for living. He's mad at us for understanding, but most of all, he's mad at us for being the Big 3's bastards."

Rain suddenly pours down—hard. Although, I don't know why I was so surprised, I should've expected it.

I turn my head towards coughing. Hazel is sitting up, coughing hard. Her eyes are clenched closed, so her bright golden hues weren't showing.

"Hazel!" I jump towards her. "Are you okay? Hazel?"

Thalia kneels beside her. Jason sits down too. "Is she chocking?" he asks.

I lay her down, "stupid Zeus." I begin to compress her stomach, singing the song "Stayin' Alive" in my head. "Ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' alive, stayin' alive," I mutter.

"Is it working?" Thalia peers over my shoulder as I shake my head. My sea green eyes land on her piercing blue ones. Thalia immediately gets the message. She puts her hand on my shoulder. "Percy…"

Jason looks at Hazel then back at me. My overgrown, black hair is sticking to my face. "Do it, Perce. We weren't given powers to put them to waste them."

"We're not supposed to have powers at all," I reply.

Jason looks down at Hazel, "We have them, might as well use them."

I glance at Thalia. She glares back at me. "What're you looking at me for? Do it quick, we can't bring her back to life if she dies. That's her dad's job."

I put my hand out, and concentrate hard. My staggered breathing slows. I relax. _Don't think, just do. _Hazel begins to cough again, and Jason sits her up. He quickly gets to the point. "Hazel, I know you need time to "recover" or whatever, but we have to go. C'mon," he says helping her up. Hazel nods and watches as I wake up the unknowing children of Hades.

"Everybody up!" Thalia yells.

I cover my ears and glare at her, "Stop screaming!"

"Hypocrite." She mutters as she picks up Nico over one shoulder and Hazel over the other.

Jason rolls his eyes, "What _are _you doing?"

"Making this trip twice as fast."

I roll my eyes. Thalia won't make it a mile. Nico and Hazel bump up and down on her shoulders as Thalia begins to run. I shake my head. Thalia always says she's sorry. Most people don't know why. Same thing with the birds. Well, it's simple really. Thalia is sorry because she knows that my dad knows me. But why won't he help me? Why won't he save me? Oh, that's right. Because I don't deserve to be saved. Once, when it was just 3—oh yeah, I never told you what that means. Just a few months ago, I didn't know Bianca, or Hazel, or Nico. I was put in California by my step father. Smelly Gabe. He put me on a train back in New York with nothing but a bucket. I think you're familiar with it.

"It symbolizes you," he spat. "A waste of space." My mother was crying so hard when put me on that train. I don't hold it against her though, Gabe wouldn't let her get to me. "That stupid boy, Sally, is holding us back. When we get back home, you make some bean dip, get me a couple of beers—"

"No!" my mother screamed and she slaps him across the cheek. The train car I was in squeaked as the rusty wheels began to move.

"Mommy!" I yelled, as the train began to gain speed. My mother began to cry harder.

"I love you Percy, don't you ever forget," she yelled as her voice carried with the wind. Quickly I was out of sight, but that didn't mean I couldn't hear the scream.

Right now, it's probably 1 a.m., and we're walking on the side of a California highway. To the right, trees. To the left trees. In front of me, tar, it smelt like cigarettes and Gabe—you can probably figure out from the name Smelly Gabe, that that wasn't a good thing. Although I trusted the girl with two children bouncing on her shoulders, I didn't trust this idea. I suppose if there's some crazy guy out here, we could hide behind darkness. I look down at the bucket in my cousin's hands. "Jason," my voice starts off shaky. "Give me the bucket."

Bianca narrows her eyebrows in suspicion. Thalia stops in her tracks and spins around causing Haze and Nico to crane their necks. Jason glances at me than smiles. "Gladly," and with that, he tosses me the bucket.

I shift it in my hands nervously, tossing it a few times.

_"It represents you, a waste of space."_

_"That stupid boy, Sally, is holding us back."_

_That didn't mean I couldn't hear the scream._

I toss the bucket high in the air, then kick it before it could land. It made my toes sting, but it was worth it. Absolutely worth it. For about 10 seconds. The bucket flew towards the forest, and disappeared within the trees. Just as I was about to smile, something interrupted my joy.

"Ow!" A rough, male voice yells. "Who the hell threw that?"

My eyes widen, as Thalia shushes everyone. She puts down the two youngest and Hazel looked like she was about to cry. As trees began to rustle closer and closer Thalia began to look around frantically. "There!" she whispers pointing. Everyone's head snapped that way. Across the street was a car. Just a regular, silver, 5 passenger Ford.

Thalia barely looks before running across the highway. As soon as she's over, she tries the driver's door and it doesn't budge. She looks up at the window. "Hmm."

Meanwhile we're just standing there. Obviously my cousin here was getting bored, because Jason looks each way before grabbing the two youngest wrists and running across the street.

After I watch them make it over, I observe Bianca and grab her hand. "Ready?"

She nods and sticks out her hand, horizontally in front of her. I stare at her. "This is how you cross a busy street," she whispers. Behind us, a tree falls. Were we dealing with an angry lumberjack?

"Does this street _look_ busy?" I hiss.

Bianca stays persistent. "What powers do you have Percy? I heard the whole thing…"

"I…" I look behind me. "I'll tell you later," I promise, before running across the street with Bianca on my tail. Once we reached the others, I looked around. "Where's Thalia?" I ask. The engine of the car roars and up pops Thalia from inside. She unlocks the doors.

"Get in, quick," she whistles. The three youngest pile in the back while Jason and I squeeze into the passenger seat.

Thalia stares at the wheel as her knuckles begin to turn white. She closes her eyes and breathes in slowly.

"Thalia," I whisper. Her eyes click open but she doesn't look at me. "I don't mean to alarm you, but…he's staring at me." I shrink behind the door. Across the street, staring at me through the darkness, was a huge man holding an ax. Before I can get a good look at him, Thalia slams the gas, and we're off.

But not without the giant man running behind the car.

**If you loved it please, **

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	3. Chapter 3

**Heeeeey. So, thank you for all of the comments and faves and follows. This chapter is short, I was kind of slacking, but I felt like I had to give you something so...here it is. Hopefully the next one's up this weekend...no promises, though.**

Chapter 3

Nico's POV

In a way, you could call Hazel and Bianca, well, oblivious. Didn't they notice that a nine year old was driving the car? _A fourteen year old. _Like, come _on_. Sure, some places you can get a learners at fourteen but, fact is, where would Thalia get that, none the less know how to drive? If you look closely, like _really _closely, Thalia's fingers were sparking. I don't know about you, but in my world, it's not natural to have fire-hot sparks flying off your skin. I don't say anything, though. Remember when Thalia lit that fire, by the way, I didn't think _that _was naturally either. I think there's something Thalia's not telling us—and I intend to know. Perhaps I use italics too much. You know, when you slant the letters to put emphasis on a word or sentence? Did you count how many times I used it? I'll tell you, _five times. _Now six. Sometimes I wonder why I seem to know so much, but then I'm like who _doesn't _know. Oh yeah, you.

Sometimes, I'm almost positive you're wondering, _hey, why is my favourite person ever, Nico, supposed to be dead? _I can tell you.

…

What? I didn't say I was _going_ to tell you. I like suspense. It amuses me. Like a dog would amuse a commoner, like you.

…

Well, status update: There's a big man chasing me in a stolen car, that's new! _Oh, plot twist! _I don't think Percy really described him well, though. Obviously, he was in a rush. But not me, I like to make the best of a situation. I kicked back in the back of that stolen vehicle, and it was pure bliss. So, anyways, the big guy was weird. He was unusually tall, well _duh. _But, what was really weird was his face. Now, just because your parents said your special, and can never be replaced, come on. Everybody has basic features. Are our faces really all that different? No. Nose –one nose. Mouth—count with me—one. Eyes? Two. But not this guy. He had one. Say it with me, now. How many eyes are we supposed to have?

Two.

How many does this guy have?

One. And I'm not talking like he was wearing an eye patch. I mean, he had one _huge _eye smack right in the middle of his face.

I mean, for a while he had two. But then it got all foggy, misty even, and it changed to one. Now, I know I'm crazy, but not _that _crazy. My craziness wavers on a certain level. I think it's in between insane and let's just not care anymore! Maybe I'm a sleep deprived four year old. Oh yeah, there are tons of us. We should make an army! Enter the Olympics! (By the way the Greeks made the Olympics. _Oh, fun fact!_) You know what? All of these weird people I'm around are hurting my brain. Or maybe they're perfectly normal and I'm just seeing things. Vivid things. Way too vivid not to be true. So maybe, it's true, and I'm just too far into denial I can't climb out. It's a one-way street to Crazyland! I wonder if Bia is going crazy too, because every time I look over at her, making a groove in that leather seat, she's shaking and saying, "C'mon Thalia, slow down!"

_Oh yeah, there's some wild guy with one eye chasing after us, let's just slow down and wait for him to catch up! Great idea, Bianca!_

Thalia would roll her eyes, and snort, and says, "You know, you can get out if you want." I'd glance at Bianca and Thalia would slow down. The big guy would be running, and seemingly get closer and closer and all of the colour would drain out of Bianca's face in record time. Bianca usually isn't as pale as me but, when the colour drains out of her face, its paler. I find that scary. Bianca would gulp, but she hates looking scared, just like Thalia, so she'll climb out of the car. By now, the monster looks kind of confused and is staring stupidly, and Jason is leaning out of the car window and saying something but she huffs, crosses her arms, and shakes her head. So Percy climbs over Jason, gets out, and whispers something in Bianca's ear, his hair covering his mouth so I couldn't read his lips. Trick or coincidence? Bianca looks up, her eyes wide open—in awe. She purses her lips and looks at Percy disbelievingly. Percy glances at Jason and gives him a very vague sign. Like a blink or something, I don't know, they have secrets. Thalia's jaw drops and she all but screams,

"Why did you tell her?"

A verbal fight breaks out. Meanwhile, Bianca gets back in the car unobtrusively and, eventually, Percy wouldn't get in. Thalia would look at him like 'you know what you're doing?' Percy nodded and Thalia drove away. All that in less than two minutes. Things can happen quickly when you're paying too much attention. I wonder what Percy's doing right now…

**Okay, this is ****_really _****short. I am not impressed with the length of this. Oh, and answer to a comment, Percy's dad never said that Per y wasn't worth it, that's just what Percy thinks, so keep in mind that Percy feels abandoned. Next chapter: Thalia's POV, Bianca's or Percy's? Oh, and this will ****_probably _****be Percabeth so, let me know if you want it to be. I personally want it to be, actually. Choices?-not Pertemis, I really, honestly am not a fan of Pertemis. Prachel-no. Pernico? Thing is that Percy and Nico are kind of like siblings in this story, but I suppose it's possible?...Percy/OC? Maybe. Pretty much all of your choices. So...**

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	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys. I started chapter 5 before I finished chapter 4, so expect that chapter soon. Thank you for all of the comments, and faves and follows. Enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Rick Riordan (did you really think I was?)**

**Sorry for any mistakes, although I did check through a few times, and in advance, I know abnormalness is not a word...but it should be.**

Chapter 4

Bianca's POV

I always noticed that Thalia was…different. When I hang out with her, she's seemingly normal. She's overprotective, especially of Percy because she thinks he's going to kill himself—not on purpose though. I mean, why would he do that? Thing is, I don't think she tries to hide her abnormalness around Percy or Jason—and I'm hoping she'll stop hiding it around me too. When Thalia began to drive away—too fast for my liking—she didn't seem shaky or fidgety, she seemed composed. She wasn't worried about Percy, or she didn't show it. As we drove along, I smiled to myself, I know. Maybe they'll tell me all the other secrets they're hiding from me. Nico tells me Jason is particularly fond of secrets. Believe it or not, Nico is one smart four year old. You know, I have a flashback I'd like to share. When Nico and I first joined 'the Club'.

_My mother held us close. She was speaking in Italian so quickly, I barely caught on. My mother was currently sitting inside of a hotel, and a man was sitting beside her. Don't ask me who he was because I can honestly say I don't know. I was standing outside of the door leading into the master bedroom. Nico had joined me a few minutes later and I was forced to slap my hand over his mouth because he refused to keep his voice at a reasonable volume. I was five, Nico was three. The man had a pale face and perfectly perfect posture and way too white teeth, it was scary. He had black hair, was wearing black clothes and he had black shoes. No second thoughts on what his favourite colour is. Then again, for all I know, his favourite colour is pink. The man was clutching my mother's hands so tight his knuckles were turning white. Tears were streaming down her face like a salty waterfall. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun and she was wearing a black dress. For the first time, I heard the man speak._

_"Maria," the words rolled off his tongue and dumped on the floor. Nico and I both looked down at where the words lay, discarded. "I want you to come with me. You can bring Bianca and Nico, just come to the Underworld where you'll be safe from my crazy, self-obsessed, lightning-shooting, narcissistic brother."_

_Maria smiled sadly at the man. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Hades," she started off quietly. "I can't accept your offer. Zeus—I'm sure he's not as cruel as to kill off his own niece and nephew."_

_The man—Hades—shook his head, "Maria, you don't know my brother. He is cruel to the core. He cares for no one but himself, not even family. He feels as though he is too superior to give anyone else a second glance." Dark eyes watered. "Maria, please," he pleaded. "Come with me."_

_"But Percy-phone will be mad, no?"_

_"No. Persephone does not judge. She isn't even there for half of the year."_

_My mother just bowed her head. A storm outside brewed. "Hades—" The flamboyant storm outside produced a lurid clap of thunder causing Nico to scream his throat dry under two seconds and run into my mother's arms. Staging as if I'd been in the other room, I ran in after him. I glanced at the man who stared at my brother before climbing on top of the bed._

_"Mama," I whispered wiping her tears. "Why are you crying? Tell me."_

_She tucked my hair behind my ear. It rebelliously flopped back. "I have dust in my eye, Bianca."_

_I frowned, knowing that was a lie. "Oldest excuse in the book."_

_I could hear Nico lowly mutter, "What book?"_

_My mother smiled, "Just worry about going back to sleep, Bianca." _

_The thunder made them jump. All except Hades. He scowled under his breath. Suddenly, a voice boomed around them, "Hades!" It was deep, but not quite scary. The voice sounded like a regular man, just angrier, and more powerful. I wasn't sure who, or what, it was._

_Hades stood and walked into the bathroom. Like we couldn't hear them right through that hollow door. Their voices argued back and forth until the storm outside became unbearable. The window broke, allowing wind to spill inside. Within a blink I saw Hades burst through the door with his hand thrust out while a streak of lightning came right through the roof, and struck them. A small poem written by 5 year old Bianca at that exact moment:_

_Lightning flew,_

_A force field was led,_

_There was no rue,_

_Mama is dead._

_And what did the man do? He took them where he wanted to take their mother. There was no resistance because it wasn't necessary. He got a bird lady to dump them in a river, and then the man took them to another hotel. It was amazing—rows of machines lined the long walls where they'd play for hours. You'd think we'd be sad, but as soon as we had resurfaced that water, our minds were cleared. Now, fast-forward about 60 years. A commotion is coming from the front desk. Everyone else was too committed to their game, so were we, but not so obsessed that we couldn't pry our eyes from the screen to see what was going on. Two boys and a girl stood by the front desk. The girl had to be the oldest of the group. On her left was a boy with hair as black as raven feathers, and on her right was a boy with hair the colour of very ripe lemons. The bellhop offers the girl a flower and she loudly denies. "Don't give me that crap…" she peers at his name tag, "Roy! Do you think I'm stupid just because I'm thirteen? Well you know what…" she says, poking him in the chest, checking his name tag again, "Roy, I'm smarter than you think."_

_The boy with black hair picked up a pink flower and then crushed it in his palm. "Thalia," he said. "It's harmless."_

_She leans over the counter, "Seven year olds, hey Roy? Think they know everything."_

_Raven head and lemon skull exchange a look behind the girl's back._

_I narrowed my eyebrows in confusion. _

_Roy ran a hand through his brown hair. "Little girl, can I show you to the Game Room?"_

_She looked appalled, "Absolutely not!"_

_I rolled my eyes. Boy, was she hard to please. The blonde boy intervened. "We're looking for two kids. A boy and a girl. Italian? Black hair?"_

_I exchanged a look with my brother. The bellhop contracted his eyebrows. "There's no one here like that. You…you should go because you're not going to find anybody like that."_

_The raven haired boy smirked, "You hesitated."_

_The bellhop narrowed his eyes and leaned in up to the boy. "You're not going to get those kids, boy, so beat it. Run home to your mommies."_

_Lemon Skull squeezed his hands into fists. "Our mommies are dead."_

_The bellhop reached under the desk and produced a tissue, "Here's a Kleenex. Now cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get over it!"_

_The girl smiled. "This guy doesn't get it, does he?" She pulled a dagger from her side. "Ugh, I hate daggers."_

_The bellhop shakes his head and presses a button under the counter. Several men had quickly surrounded them, forcing Nico and Bianca into the large circle of people. _

_"Is that them?" The blonde one asked._

_The girl smirked, "Well if it's not you can call me Bob."_

_The one with raven hair smiled, "Okay, Bob."_

_"You can't call me that because that is them, Percy."_

_"Oh."_

And that was that. If you were wondering, they fought for about five minutes before running out of that hotel with Nico and me on their tail. We took a taxi to California. Those cards Nico and I had sure did come in handy. Especially when we celebrated Thalia's birthday a few months later.

I pulled mine out of my jeans pocket. It was scratched, but it hasn't failed me yet.

**Okay first, this is pretty short, but was kind of an important chapter. Who are you cheering for in the Olympics? Lemme know. And remember to**

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	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, hi guys. The reason I haven't updated in a while is because of this chapter—I couldn't break it up. It's linger then all of the other chapters…**_**combined. **_**Finally I was just like you know what? I'm stopping here. By the way, there's been a few age changes. Thalia, Percy and Jason. Thalia got older and Percy is now older than Jason. It's just so it's more along the ages in the book. Okay, enjoy this very long chapter! (Hopefully the length makes up for the time you had to wait.)**

Chapter 5

Jason's POV

Introductions—I hate them. It's just an opportunity for someone to rub in your face all they've done—their accomplishments, awards, prized possessions. Things you don't have. Like, listen to this: Hi, my name is _, it's nice to meet you. I'll tell you a little about me, I won _ and love to _, and I think _ is better than _ and my favourite sport is _.

Fill in the blanks with your information. I would, but I can honestly say that if I did, half of it would be a lie. Tell me yours wouldn't and I might not believe you. No, I probably wouldn't believe you. Maybe if I saw it, I would believe it. Like, if I told you _Hey, my dad's Zeus and guess what he did! He sent me my very own birds. They poop on me, it's great! _Then I'd beam till your eyeballs hurt and you'd call me a liar and stomp off, rubbing your eyes. Wouldn't you? Tell me you wouldn't and I'd call you a liar. I actually just lied to you. Do you know where? Did you know within the first five minutes of meeting someone they've probably already lied to you? Why? To make you impressed, to make sure you don't know something—secrets. Despite popular belief, I really can't stand secrets, yet, I have so many. Like the birds. Percy knows. Thalia knows. But do you know? No? Okay, I'll tell you. First, let's clear something up. I have an older sister—Thalia. We have the same mother, but not the same father. Thalia's father is Zeus, and my father is Jupiter. Yes, like the largest planet. Don't tell anyone, but, I'm Roman and the rest of them, as far as I know, are Greek. So, when I was five and Thalia was twelve, my mother came staggering into our large house, as usual, weird. At the time I had no idea what was going on. I thought she was sick. I now know, she was drunk. So, that night, about midnight, Thalia glares at my mom and says, "I'm leaving."

I frowned and tried not to cry whilst my mother grabbed Thalia's boney wrist and gently pulled her towards her. See, my mother is an actress. Therefore, we have lots of money. Not a lot, a lot, but more than enough. My mother flipped her blonde hair back and Thalia stared at her bare feet. "Thaly," she starts softly. "Your daddy was a powerful man, the king of the gods. And I was his Queen. You're the princess, Thalia."

Thalia looks up, "Princess Thalia?" she whispered.

My mother nodded. "Princess Thalia."

Thalia steps back forcing her wrist out of my mother's sturdy grip. "I don't want to be a princess."

Mom sighed, "Why not?"

"Because," she paused leaning in to the face of my mother. "Princesses are stuck-up, rich, and not me. So, I officially turn in my crown or tiara, whatever. C'mon Jason," the spotlight is turned to me. "Let's go."

I bit my lip as I jumped off the stool beside the island in the kitchen and passed my mother sitting on the leather couch. My mother frowned and grabbed my wrist. She pulled me onto the couch. "Jason," she hissed. "Do you want to die?" I whimpered and shook my head, my hair bobbing around. I needed a haircut. "Thalia's dragging you to your death! There are monsters out there—half of them human and the other half are not! Do you want to risk it?"

Thalia pulls me off the couch and glares at our mother. "Mom, how are we supposed to learn anything if all we do is go to school?"

She rolls her eyes, "That was stupid, you answered your own question."

Thalia attempts to hide her blush. "Well—"

"Thalia," my mother put her feet up on the table. "I don't care, go."

Thalia frowned. "Really?"

"Yup," she shrugs reaching for the TV remote.

Thalia narrows her blue eyes. "Why?"

"Because," she starts to sing. "I try and I try and I try…"

"This not a musical," Thalia mutters. "Just because you're a singer doesn't mean you have to constantly sing."

Mom ignores her, "…But everybody wants to get me down, they say I'm going crazy. They say I got a lot of water in my brain…"

"That's because you do."

"…I've got nobody left to believe!" That's when Thalia dragged me out of our Nevada house with a backpack slung over her shoulder and slammed the wooden door. You could still hear our mother from inside.

"Yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah-e-yeasaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!"

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Where to, Jason?"

I shrugged. "Some hotel?"

"Oh, yeah, they'll let a five and twelve year old check into some hotel room," she replies, smiling. "Let's go to New York."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because, little brother, I think we just might find something special."

So, Thalia used the payphone and called a cab and we made it all the way to Kansas. She paid the man with our mother's card and then we took a train to Illinois. Soon, we were going to take a train to New York. It was honestly, a stupid journey, and I constantly let Thalia know.

"Well then tell that to your stupid dad," she said pointing to the sky.

At the time, I didn't know who he was, but I looked up anyways and yelled, "Hey, dad. This is a stupid journey!"

People walking by looked at me like I was crazy, probably because I looked the part. Thalia smirked and yelled some really rude things to the sky. And then it rained. Although, I didn't mind, it though, because it was the best shower I had since the six days ago we left. And then, to my joy, a flock of colourful birds appeared. Thalia frowned. The birds hovered for a little bit before tucked in their feathers and swooped towards Thalia and I in unison.

"Duck!" Thalia screamed. Of course my five-year old brain had to take an extra second to process what she said, because by the time I realised, my fate was upon me. I was covered in sticky, white and black, bird poop.

Thalia cursed as she scrambled towards me. "Jace!" she yelled as she reached me. She hesitated once she got near me, "Ja-Jason? Are you…okay?"

I felt tears prick my eyes, but I couldn't cry because Thalia would probably make fun of me later. I bit the tears back as Thalia reached forwards. I inched away. "Thalia. Don't."

She looked flabbergasted. "But…why? I'm your sister—"

"You did this to me!" I snapped. "Why did you do this to me?" I whined, throwing a mini tantrum.

Thalia growled, "It was an accident."

"And you didn't say sorry."

"You didn't deserve it."

"Shut up." I stood up leaving an outline of bird poop where I was sitting.

Thalia took a step back. "I think we could both use a wash."

I looked away, "Oh, yeah, because there are showers all around us." The sarcasm was dripping off my words.

"C'mon," Thalia sighed. She led me towards a small Illinois lake. We stood on the dock a few feet above the dark lake. Quickly looking around she blindly ignored the Unknown Water Conditions, Swimming Not Recommended sign, and jumped into the raging water.

"Thalia!" I screeched. "What _are _you doing?"

Thalia looked up, her teeth chattering. "W-what?" Her short black hair stuck to her forehead. She constantly asked our mother for blue highlights and the answer was always the same. _"Oh, Thalia, but your hair's so pretty. Or, do you want to dye it blonde like mine, you'd look so cute!"_

"Thalia," I shout down at her. "That's Uncle Poseidon's territory! Get out, get out!" Poseidon was mad at our father, therefore he was mad at us, therefore we don't do water. I suppose Thalia forgot about all of that as gravity pulled her towards the liquid and remembered it as soon as I reminded her. Thalia's face paled as reality dawned on her.

"Holy crap, Jason, get help!"

I nodded and turned around. I was about to run off when I saw a kid sitting on the edge of the wooden dock, looking down at Thalia. He was wearing a worn out grey shirt and grass-stained jeans.

I narrowed my eyebrows at him. "Um, hello?"

"What happened to your face?" He asked.

"_Excuse _me?"

He looked up and I saw how green his eyes were. "Your uncle is named Poseidon?" he asked.

"It's none of your business," I snapped.

He looked back down at his lap, fiddling with his hands. "I just thought," He swallowed, "I just thought that, maybe, we know the same Poseidon, maybe?"

I bit my lip, my mind momentarily wondering how many mother's named their child Poseidon. "How do you know him?" I demanded.

He looked me in my eye. "He's my dad."

Maybe what I did was a little crazy, but it was necessary. It kind of just…happened. And if it were you, you probably would've done the same, because it was absolutely necessary. I mean, I probably could've just used my words, but you know what, that would've taken an extra five minutes before  
I ended up doing the same thing, so ultimately, that would've been a waste of time and energy. You're probably wondering, hmm, what did he do? Well, I, um, kind of threw him into the water. I just pushed him off the ledge and he screamed as he made contact. He was underwater for a little bit before submerging beside Thalia. Thalia used her hand to comb her hair out of her face to get a good look at him. His messy black hair stuck to his face in tangles and his green eyes looked like emeralds.

"Jason!" she screamed. "Are you just throwing innocent kids into lakes now?"

I get on my knees and look down at her as I roll my eyes. I place my palms in front of me. "No!" I yell down. "His dad is Poseidon!"

Thalia looks at the boy who's struggling to keep his head above water. Unconvinced she looks back at me. "You sure?" she asks, the doubt clear in her voice.

"No," I call. "But c'mon, Thals, how many people do you know named Poseidon?"

She turns her attention back on the boy. "Kay, listen to me…what's your name?"

"Percy," he answers.

She nods, "Close your eyes, relax, and do, don't think."

"But—"

"I said," Thalia snaps and he flinches, "Shut your yap, unclench your body, and get us outta here!"

He whimpers and nods. Slowly, he exhales and closes his eyes as his shoulders drop.

Thalia begins to say soothing things in his ear. It must've worked, too, because they began to drift towards the sand. I ran down to meet them.

"Thalia, the train is leaving!" I yelled helping her out of the water. Behind me the train we were going to stow away on one of the trains in the back was getting an oil check. Once Thalia's out, I pull out Percy, whose face looks really pale. "Um, is he okay?" I murmured to Thalia.

"Probably wiped out," she shrugs. "Look," she turns to Percy, "Thanks for the help but…we have to go. To New York."

He frowns automatically, "New York?"

Thalia turned towards him, "Yes."

Meanwhile I was frantic, "Thalia," I hissed. "The train…"

"What do you know about New York?" she asked.

Percy shrugs, "I'm from there."

Thalia bites her lip, "Come with us."

"But—"

"Thalia!" I yell, "The train is going!"

On that note, Thalia grabbed Percy's wrist and ran towards the train tracks.

"A hobo!" Percy screeched. Momentarily, we were surrounded by colour-coded crates packed in high piles around us. The exit wasn't a door at all, it was just a large frame taking up half of one of the larger sides of the crate. It had looked like the sliding door had fallen off from the vacant hinges beside the door frame. The interior of the car we were in was rusty red and the walls were in wave patterns. We had just been able to jump onto the second to last car of the train and of course, Thalia demanded that we separated and looked for anything of value…I'm not sure a homeless person counted.

Thalia and I both turned around towards the direction of Percy's voice. "Oh, where!" Thalia squealed. I gave her the weirdest look I could master and Percy looked confused.

Right in front of Percy was a motionless body. I looked down at a man with stubble forming on his gruff face. He was wearing a dark brown jacket with a white t-shirr underneath and jeans. He had a pot belly and seemed short…taller than all of us but about 4ft something? Almost 5ft.

Thalia frowned, "He doesn't look like a hobo…he looks like he's passed out."

"From what?" Percy whispers.

I look up at Thalia expectantly and she gives the man a sympathetic look. She gulps, "Help me get him up." We walked forward in unison and Thalia hesitantly bent down and pushed him up against the car wall.

"Should we check his pockets?" I ask stepping forward.

"No," Thalia thrusts her hand out and a few sparks fly off the tips of her fingers hitting some crates. I give her a warning look, jerking my head in Percy's direction. "I-I'm nervous, is all," she stampers.

"No," Percy whispers, backing towards us, which meant he was nearing the open frame.

"What?" Thalia demands. "Percy, what is it?"

He points at the man. "I-I know him…that's Smelly Gabe!"

"Smelly Gabe?" my sister and I question in unison.

"Jinx!" I yell and she rolls her eyes. "You owe me a soda!"

"You know him?" Thalia recaps and Percy nods sliding down the metal wall and sitting on the car floor. "How?"

"He's my step-dad and my mom always said that he's good for us but he's not because he's just a smelly jerk!"

"Don't say that," Thalia says, looking back down at the man who had slumped forwards.

"I can and I will!" Percy snaps.

I widen my eyes. Who knew the guy had it in that tiny body of his? This Gabe guy must be really awful, so I sided with Percy.

"Don't tell me you feel bad for this guy, Thalia."

Thalia frowns as she looks down again, "Well…"

"Thalia!" I screech. "Don't tell me you're going all soft!"

She punches me in the shoulder way stronger than a thirteen year old girl should. "I'm. Not. Going. Soft!"

"See," Percy protests. "Gabe's awful. He's making Thalia soft!"

Thalia huffs and rolls her eyes. She was more of "I'll believe it when I see it." type of person, _plus_ she didn't appreciate Percy calling her soft.

"Well, what did he do?" I inquired.

"He-he brings his awful friends over and sits at a table and plays card games and drinks this stuff out of a bottle and he slapped my mom's butt!"

Thalia cocks her head to the right. "Guys? He's waking up!" she hissed.

Percy began to scream his head off and Thalia slapped her hand on his pie-hole muffling his frantic yelling. Tears slowly began to slide down his rosy red cheeks dripping off of Thalia's frail hand. Behind us, I could see the skyscrapers of New York and the wind was blowing my blonde hair into my face.

The guy grunted and opened his eyes revealing an ugly brown colour. He looked around and spotted us, pointing in our direction. "What's going on here?" he demanded and Thalia's hand dropped from Percy's face. Gabe had an awfully gruff voice and was very…bad-guy movie-ish. His eyes dropped on Percy. "You," he snarled getting up. Percy yelped and ducked behind Thalia and me.

"Your mother kicked me out, ya know?" he said, approaching us. "Said that because you were gone, I was of no use to her. Hey runt, ya listening to me?"

His large hairy arm reached behind Thalia and me and pulled out Percy by the collar of his shirt who started screaming for dear life as his small legs bicycled through the air. Gabe brought Percy right up to his face. "Why I ought to—"

Thalia kicked him in the crotch. That's as simple as I can put it. He grunted as he dropped Percy who scrambled behind Thalia and I in a blur.

"What's wrong with you?" Thalia screamed as Gabe fell to the ground with his hands in between his legs.

The guy struggles to look up but manages, "Y-you shocked me."

Thalia grins with her hands on her hips, "Good."

"No, you shocked me, literally."

"W-what are you talking about?" I looked up at Thalia. From the way her grin wavered and the glint in her blue hues dimed I knew that she knew exactly what he was talking about.

He narrowed his eyebrows and growled as he began to stand, "Why you little—" He grunted and fell to the ground again. Thalia had kicked him in the crotch—again.

"Thalia!" I yelped. "You're—he—why—again?"

"What?" she demands.

"What, are you just throwing innocent kids into lakes now?" I mimic.

"Not relevant!" she snaps.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Gabe open his eyes again. "I'm…" he reaches into his jacket, "I'm going to kill you." He pulls out a black handgun and points it with one hand.

For the first time in forever Thalia looked…scared. Her lower lip stuck out the ever so slightest and her breathing staggered. We've never had, well, a _gun_ pointed at us. Maybe it's not loaded, I said with the tiny glint of hope still left in me. "Woops almost forgot to load it," Gabe says grinning madly as he loads a few bullets into his gun. I deflate.

"Don't look at me," a voice hissed from behind us. Fortunately for Percy, he was covered by my older sibling and I. I nod my head as unnoticeable as I can manage. "When I say, we jump."

Gabe looks up at us, "Got anything of value?"

"No," Thalia shakes her head, her short hair flying into her face.

"No what?"

"Huh?"

"It's no _sir_."

"Okay. No, stupid."

"What did you just call me?"

"I said no sir."

"No, you didn't…"

"I did, I just said it, sir, because yeah…"

"I-I'm confused…"

"Yeah, me too."

He shakes his head, "You're messing with me. I'm going to shoot you now."

Thalia sucks in as Gabe points his gun at her and clenches her eyes closed. She began muttering words to herself.

A shoe goes flying to Gabe and hits him right in the eye.

"Crap!" He covers his eye and uses his other hand and shoots wildly like a mad man.

"NOW!" Percy screams and I tumble out of the car, squeezing my eyes shut. Gun shots ring throughout my ear drums and I feel myself collide with the rough blades of grass.

"Everyone okay?" Thalia demands.

I groan in reply and use my arms to hoist me out of the dead grass. It's the middle of Fall, therefore it was freezing. "At least it's not winter," I whisper standing up.

"What was that, Jason?"

"Nothing." See, I was still covered in bird poop—you probably forgot. So did I. Most of it was in my hair, not my skin, so that was a plus. But with every plus comes a minus-on the other side of the train tracks not only was grass, but cars and a not so far away a city.

"Where's Percy?" Thalia questions, picking a stick out of my hair.

"Here," a voice croaks walking over to us.

"Where were you?" I ask taking him in. His black hair was always messy but today…it's a rat's nest. His blue t-shirt was torn and hanging limply off his body. But for some reason, he was always smiling that it was almost annoying—I mean come _on _people, he's five. Why won't he, like, cry or throw a tantrum? I did pretty much a day ago.

Percy grins and holds up 3 tickets, "Ever taken the subway?"

"What's your story?" We're on the speeding subway of New York to some neighbourhood I guess. We had a little bit of trouble getting through, but eventually Thalia tricked him—she's getting seemingly good at twisting not only hers, but other people's words. We weren't surrounded by too many people seeing as its 3:00 a.m.

I look up at Percy questioningly. "Huh?"

"I said—"

I cut him off, "I know what you said."

He shrugs, "I have a story. I was sitting at home when Smelly Gabe got mad at me for not giving him my subway money so he picked me up, despite my mother's protests, and put me on a trip that took me to Illinois."

Thalia pouts and crosses her arms, "I was wrong," she mutters.

"You always are," I shrug.

Thalia clenches and unclenches her fists, "Jason, I swear—"

The subway screeches to a stop. Percy's face stretches into a grin. He jumps off his seat and runs off the subway Thalia and me hot on his heel. Once we're outside Percy's on GPS mode—he knows exactly where he's going. We follow him towards an apartment building. I push on the door but it doesn't budge.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Thalia roll her eyes. I stop pushing to glare at her. "What?" She walks up to the door pushing me aside and pulls it open.

"Learn to read, Jason."

I mutter incoherent words under my breath following my sister and cousin into the building. I follow Percy and Thalia into the small elevator. It had a grey floor and grey walls. I yawn under my breath. "Which button, Percy?" I ask, my finger wavering over the buttons.

"I'm going to press the button," Percy insists walking towards the buttons.

"But I'm standing right here," I

"My apartment, my building, and my rules: I always push the button."

"Exactly! Give someone else a chance!"

"No!" Percy stomps his foot.

Thalia, who looks a little green, walks over to the panel of buttons and pushes her thumb promptly on the three.

I frown at Thalia, "Are you okay, Thals?"

"I—" she takes a breath, "Just a little claustrophobic is all…and your petty arguments with your long lost cousin doesn't help either."

"Sorry Thalia," we both mumble. The metallic doors slide open and we all step out. To the left—a potted plant. To the right—several doors. The ground was carpeted and all of the doors were going by the 300's. Percy motions us down the hall to 313.

I looked down at his feet. Since when was he missing a shoe? Percy leans down and produces a silver key from underneath the door mat. He smiles at the key like it was an old picture before tossing the key to Thalia. Thalia, having great reflexes, catches it without a blink. Percy steps back and stands beside me off to the side allowing Thalia to step forward. So pushing the button in the elevator was a huge deal but opening the door to see his mother who I've assumed he hasn't seen in days was just a toss to Thalia—apparently.

Thalia slides the key into the slot and pushes the door open. She places the key back where we found it and the three of us step inside. Percy shuts the door and locks it as I look around. The kitchen was nice and small and to the right was a couch and a small TV and the smell. Every house had a distinctive smell. This one smelt like cookies. Percy looked like he wanted to melt right then and there. Percy begins to walk towards where I assumed the bedrooms were. I'm about to follow when I hear a scream of joy.

"Percy!"

Thalia and I exchange a look. Percy walks back out dragging a nice looking lady with him. Her long black hair wasn't nearly as messy as Percy's and her bright blue eyes didn't resemble Percy at all. But yet, they looked similar and I'm not sure why. I've met my dad and all I ever see in him is Thalia. Upturned nose piercing blue eyes, dark hair—I guess I got my blonde hair from my mom.

Percy's mom smiles at us and I glance at Thalia looking at her forced smile I do the same. "Hello, I'm Sally."

"Hi," Thalia says and I wave. "Um, we're Percy's cousins."

Sally's smile wavers. "Oh…are you sure?"

I nod, "Yup."

She glances down at Percy, "I…never told him that his dad was a, you know."

"That his dad was a god?" Thalia questioned and ally nodded. Thalia laughs a bit, "Our mother made us well assured that our dad was a god."

I nod again, "Yup."

"Poseidon is Percy's dad and his brother Zeus-y poo is our dad."

Sally full out frowns, "Oh."

I exchange a look with my sister. Were we a disappointment or something?

Percy, of course, breaks the tension, "Mum, can we have some pancakes?"

Thalia rolls her eyes and Sally stretches, "Percy it's 3 a.m., get some sleep okay? Show your friends to your room okay?"

"Okay."

Chapter 5

Jason's POV

Introductions—I hate them. It's just an opportunity for someone to rub in your face all they've done—their accomplishments, awards, prized possessions. Things you don't have. Like, listen to this: Hi, my name is _, it's nice to meet you. I'll tell you a little about me, I won _ and love to _, and I think _ is better than _ and my favourite sport is _.

Fill in the blanks with your information. I would, but I can honestly say that if I did, half of it would be a lie. Tell me yours wouldn't and I might not believe you. No, I probably wouldn't believe you. Maybe if I saw it, I would believe it. Like, if I told you _Hey, my dad's Zeus and guess what he did! He sent me my very own birds. They poop on me, it's great! _Then I'd beam till your eyeballs hurt and you'd call me a liar and stomp off, rubbing your eyes. Wouldn't you? Tell me you wouldn't and I'd call you a liar. I actually just lied to you. Do you know where? Did you know within the first five minutes of meeting someone they've probably already lied to you? Why? To make you impressed, to make sure you don't know something—secrets. Despite popular belief, I really can't stand secrets, yet, I have so many. Like the birds. Percy knows. Thalia knows. But do you know? No? Okay, I'll tell you. First, let's clear something up. I have an older sister—Thalia. We have the same mother, but not the same father. Thalia's father is Zeus, and my father is Jupiter. Yes, like the largest planet. Don't tell anyone, but, I'm Roman and the rest of them, as far as I know, are Greek. So, when I was five and Thalia was twelve, my mother came staggering into our large house, as usual, weird. At the time I had no idea what was going on. I thought she was sick. I now know, she was drunk. So, that night, Thalia glares at my mom and says, "I'm leaving."

I frowned and tried not to cry whilst my mother grabbed Thalia's boney wrist and gently pulled her towards her. See, my mother is an actress. Therefore, we have lots of money. Not a lot, a lot, but more than enough. My mother flipped her blonde hair back and Thalia stared at her bare feet. "Thaly," she starts softly. "Your daddy was a powerful man, the king of the gods. And I was his Queen. You're the princess, Thalia."

Thalia looks up, "Princess Thalia?" she whispered.

My mother nodded. "Princess Thalia."

Thalia steps back forcing her wrist out of my mother's sturdy grip. "I don't want to be a princess."

Mom sighed, "Why not?"

"Because," she paused leaning in to the face of my mother. "Princesses are stuck-up, rich, and not me. So, I officially turn in my crown or tiara, whatever. C'mon Jason," the spotlight is turned to me. "Let's go."

I bit my lip as I jumped off the stool beside the island in the kitchen and passed my mother sitting on the leather couch. My mother frowned and grabbed my wrist. She pulled me onto the couch. "Jason," she hissed. "Do you want to die?" I whimpered and shook my head, my hair bobbing around. I needed a haircut. "Thalia's dragging you to your death! There are monsters out there—half of them human and the other half are not! Do you want to risk it?"

Thalia pulls me off the couch and glares at our mother. "Mom, how are we supposed to learn anything if all we do is go to school?"

She rolls her eyes, "That was stupid, you answered your own question."

Thalia attempts to hide her blush. "Well—"

"Thalia," my mother put her feet up on the table. "I don't care, go."

Thalia frowned. "Really?"

"Yup," she shrugs reaching for the TV remote.

Thalia narrows her blue eyes. "Why?"

"Because," she starts to sing. "I try and I try and I try…"

"This not a musical," Thalia mutters. "Just because you're a singer doesn't mean you have to constantly sing."

Mom ignores her, "…But everybody wants to get me down, they say I'm going crazy. They say I got a lot of water in my brain…"

"That's because you do."

"…I've got nobody left to believe!" That's when Thalia dragged me out of our Nevada house with a backpack slung over her shoulder and slammed the wooden door. You could still hear our mother from inside.

"Yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah-e-yeasaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!"

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Where to, Jason?"

I shrugged. "Some hotel?"

"Oh, yeah, they'll let a five and twelve year old check into some hotel room," she replies, smiling. "Let's go to New York."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because, little brother, I think we just might find something special."

So, Thalia used the payphone and called a cab and we made it all the way to Kansas. She paid the man with our mother's card and then we took a train to Illinois. Soon, we were going to take a train to New York. It was honestly, a stupid journey, and I constantly let Thalia know.

"Well then tell that to your stupid dad," she said pointing to the sky.

At the time, I didn't know who he was, but I looked up anyways and yelled, "Hey, dad. This is a stupid journey!"

People walking by looked at me like I was crazy, probably because I looked the part. Thalia smirked and yelled some really rude things to the sky. And then it rained. Although, I didn't mind, it though, because it was the best shower I had since the six days ago we left. And then, to my joy, a flock of colourful birds appeared. Thalia frowned. The birds hovered for a little bit before tucked in their feathers and swooped towards Thalia and I in unison.

"Duck!" Thalia screamed. Of course my five-year old brain had to take an extra second to process what she said, because by the time I realised, my fate was upon me. I was covered in sticky, white and black, bird poop.

Thalia cursed as she scrambled towards me. "Jace!" she yelled as she reached me. She hesitated once she got near me, "Ja-Jason? Are you…okay?"

I felt tears prick my eyes, but I couldn't cry because Thalia would probably make fun of me later. I bit the tears back as Thalia reached forwards. I inched away. "Thalia. Don't."

She looked flabbergasted. "But…why? I'm your sister—"

"You did this to me!" I snapped. "Why did you do this to me?" I whined, throwing a mini tantrum.

Thalia growled, "It was an accident."

"And you didn't say sorry."

"You didn't deserve it."

"Shut up." I stood up leaving an outline of bird poop where I was sitting.

Thalia took a step back. "I think we could both use a wash."

I looked away, "Oh, yeah, because there are showers all around us." The sarcasm was dripping off my words.

"C'mon," Thalia sighed. She led me towards a small Illinois lake. We stood on the dock a few feet above the dark lake. Quickly looking around she blindly ignored the Unknown Water Conditions, Swimming Not Recommended sign, and jumped into the raging water.

"Thalia!" I screeched. "What _are _you doing?"

Thalia looked up, her teeth chattering. "W-what?" Her short black hair stuck to her forehead. She constantly asked our mother for blue highlights and the answer was always the same. _"Oh, Thalia, but your hair's so pretty. Or, do you want to dye it blonde like mine, you'd look so cute!"_

"Thalia," I shout down at her. "That's Uncle Poseidon's territory! Get out, get out!" Poseidon was mad at our father, therefore he was mad at us, therefore we don't do water. I suppose Thalia forgot about all of that as gravity pulled her towards the liquid and remembered it as soon as I reminded her. Thalia's face paled as reality dawned on her.

"Holy crap, Jason, get help!"

I nodded and turned around. I was about to run off when I saw a kid sitting on the edge of the wooden dock, looking down at Thalia. He was wearing a worn out grey shirt and grass-stained jeans.

I narrowed my eyebrows at him. "Um, hello?"

"What happened to your face?" He asked.

"_Excuse _me?"

He looked up and I saw how green his eyes were. "Your uncle is named Poseidon?" he asked.

"It's none of your business," I snapped.

He looked back down at his lap, fiddling with his hands. "I just thought," He swallowed, "I just thought that, maybe, we know the same Poseidon, maybe?"

I bit my lip, my mind momentarily wondering how many mother's named their child Poseidon. "How do you know him?" I demanded.

He looked me in my eye. "He's my dad."

Maybe what I did was a little crazy, but it was necessary. It kind of just…happened. And if it were you, you probably would've done the same, because it was absolutely necessary. I mean, I probably could've just used my words, but you know what, that would've taken an extra five minutes before  
I ended up doing the same thing, so ultimately, that would've been a waste of time and energy. You're probably wondering, hmm, what did he do? Well, I, um, kind of threw him into the water. I just pushed him off the ledge and he screamed as he made contact. He was underwater for a little bit before submerging beside Thalia. Thalia used her hand to comb her hair out of her face to get a good look at him. His messy black hair stuck to his face in tangles and his green eyes looked like emeralds.

"Jason!" she screamed. "Are you just throwing innocent kids into lakes now?"

I get on my knees and look down at her as I roll my eyes. I place my palms in front of me. "No!" I yell down. "His dad is Poseidon!"

Thalia looks at the boy who's struggling to keep his head above water. Unconvinced she looks back at me. "You sure?" she asks, the doubt clear in her voice.

"No," I call. "But c'mon, Thals, how many people do you know named Poseidon?"

She turns her attention back on the boy. "Kay, listen to me…what's your name?"

"Percy," he answers.

She nods, "Close your eyes, relax, and do, don't think."

"But—"

"I said," Thalia snaps and he flinches, "Shut your yap, unclench your body, and get us outta here!"

He whimpers and nods. Slowly, he exhales and closes his eyes as his shoulders drop.

Thalia begins to say soothing things in his ear. It must've worked, too, because they began to drift towards the sand. I ran down to meet them.

"Thalia, the train is leaving!" I yelled helping her out of the water. Behind me the train we were going to stow away on one of the trains in the back was getting an oil check. Once Thalia's out, I pull out Percy, whose face looks really pale. "Um, is he okay?" I murmured to Thalia.

"Probably wiped out," she shrugs. "Look," she turns to Percy, "Thanks for the help but…we have to go. To New York."

He frowns automatically, "New York?"

Thalia turned towards him, "Yes."

Meanwhile I was frantic, "Thalia," I hissed. "The train…"

"What do you know about New York?" she asked.

Percy shrugs, "I'm from there."

Thalia bites her lip, "Come with us."

"But—"

"Thalia!" I yell, "The train is going!"

On that note, Thalia grabbed Percy's wrist and ran towards the train tracks.

"A hobo!" Percy screeched. Momentarily, we were surrounded by colour-coded crates packed in high piles around us. The exit wasn't a door at all, it was just a large frame taking up half of one of the larger sides of the crate. It had looked like the sliding door had fallen off from the vacant hinges beside the door frame. The interior of the car we were in was rusty red and the walls were in wave patterns. We had just been able to jump onto the second to last car of the train and of course, Thalia demanded that we separated and looked for anything of value…I'm not sure a homeless person counted.

Thalia and I both turned around towards the direction of Percy's voice. "Oh, where!" Thalia squealed. I gave her the weirdest look I could master and Percy looked confused.

Right in front of Percy was a motionless body. I looked down at a man with stubble forming on his gruff face. He was wearing a dark brown jacket with a white t-shirr underneath and jeans. He had a pot belly and seemed short…taller than all of us but about 4ft something? Almost 5ft.

Thalia frowned, "He doesn't look like a hobo…he looks like he's passed out."

"From what?" Percy whispers.

I look up at Thalia expectantly and she gives the man a sympathetic look. She gulps, "Help me get him up." We walked forward in unison and Thalia hesitantly bent down and pushed him up against the car wall.

"Should we check his pockets?" I ask stepping forward.

"No," Thalia thrusts her hand out and a few sparks fly off the tips of her fingers hitting some crates. I give her a warning look, jerking my head in Percy's direction. "I-I'm nervous, is all," she stampers.

"No," Percy whispers, backing towards us, which meant he was nearing the open frame.

"What?" Thalia demands. "Percy, what is it?"

He points at the man. "I-I know him…that's Smelly Gabe!"

"Smelly Gabe?" my sister and I question in unison.

"Jinx!" I yell and she rolls her eyes. "You owe me a soda!"

"You know him?" Thalia recaps and Percy nods sliding down the metal wall and sitting on the car floor. "How?"

"He's my step-dad and my mom always said that he's good for us but he's not because he's just a smelly jerk!"

"Don't say that," Thalia says, looking back down at the man who had slumped forwards.

"I can and I will!" Percy snaps.

I widen my eyes. Who knew the guy had it in that tiny body of his? This Gabe guy must be really awful, so I sided with Percy.

"Don't tell me you feel bad for this guy, Thalia."

Thalia frowns as she looks down again, "Well…"

"Thalia!" I screech. "Don't tell me you're going all soft!"

She punches me in the shoulder way stronger than a thirteen year old girl should. "I'm. Not. Going. Soft!"

"See," Percy protests. "Gabe's awful. He's making Thalia soft!"

Thalia huffs and rolls her eyes. She was more of "I'll believe it when I see it." type of person, _plus_ she didn't appreciate Percy calling her soft.

"Well, what did he do?" I inquired.

"He-he brings his awful friends over and sits at a table and plays card games and drinks this stuff out of a bottle and he slapped my mom's butt!"

Thalia cocks her head to the right. "Guys? He's waking up!" she hissed.

Percy began to scream his head off and Thalia slapped her hand on his pie-hole muffling his frantic yelling. Tears slowly began to slide down his rosy red cheeks dripping off of Thalia's frail hand. Behind us, I could see the skyscrapers of New York and the wind was blowing my blonde hair into my face.

The guy grunted and opened his eyes revealing an ugly brown colour. He looked around and spotted us, pointing in our direction. "What's going on here?" he demanded and Thalia's hand dropped from Percy's face. Gabe had an awfully gruff voice and was very…bad-guy movie-ish. His eyes dropped on Percy. "You," he snarled getting up. Percy yelped and ducked behind Thalia and me.

"Your mother kicked me out, ya know?" he said, approaching us. "Said that because you were gone, I was of no use to her. Hey runt, ya listening to me?"

His large hairy arm reached behind Thalia and me and pulled out Percy by the collar of his shirt who started screaming for dear life as his small legs bicycled through the air. Gabe brought Percy right up to his face. "Why I ought to—"

Thalia kicked him in the crotch. That's as simple as I can put it. He grunted as he dropped Percy who scrambled behind Thalia and I in a blur.

"What's wrong with you?" Thalia screamed as Gabe fell to the ground with his hands in between his legs.

The guy struggles to look up but manages, "Y-you shocked me."

Thalia grins with her hands on her hips, "Good."

"No, you shocked me, literally."

"W-what are you talking about?" I looked up at Thalia. From the way her grin wavered and the glint in her blue hues dimed I knew that she knew exactly what he was talking about.

He narrowed his eyebrows and growled as he began to stand, "Why you little—" He grunted and fell to the ground again. Thalia had kicked him in the crotch—again.

"Thalia!" I yelped. "You're—he—why—again?"

"What?" she demands.

"What, are you just throwing innocent kids into lakes now?" I mimic.

"Not relevant!" she snaps.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Gabe open his eyes again. "I'm…" he reaches into his jacket, "I'm going to kill you." He pulls out a black handgun and points it with one hand.

For the first time in forever Thalia looked…scared. Her lower lip stuck out the ever so slightest and her breathing staggered. We've never had, well, a _gun_ pointed at us. Maybe it's not loaded, I said with the tiny glint of hope still left in me. "Woops almost forgot to load it," Gabe says grinning madly as he loads a few bullets into his gun. I deflate.

"Don't look at me," a voice hissed from behind us. Fortunately for Percy, he was covered by my older sibling and I. I nod my head as unnoticeable as I can manage. "When I say, we jump."

Gabe looks up at us, "Got anything of value?"

"No," Thalia shakes her head, her short hair flying into her face.

"No what?"

"Huh?"

"It's no _sir_."

"Okay. No, stupid."

"What did you just call me?"

"I said no sir."

"No, you didn't…"

"I did, I just said it, sir, because yeah…"

"I-I'm confused…"

"Yeah, me too."

He shakes his head, "You're messing with me. I'm going to shoot you now."

Thalia sucks in as Gabe points his gun at her and clenches her eyes closed. She began muttering words to herself.

A shoe goes flying to Gabe and hits him right in the eye.

"Crap!" He covers his eye and uses his other hand and shoots wildly like a mad man.

"NOW!" Percy screams and I tumble out of the car, squeezing my eyes shut. Gun shots ring throughout my ear drums and I feel myself collide with the rough blades of grass.

"Everyone okay?" Thalia demands.

I groan in reply and use my arms to hoist me out of the dead grass. It's the middle of Fall, therefore it was freezing. "At least it's not winter," I whisper standing up.

"What was that, Jason?"

"Nothing." See, I was still covered in bird poop—you probably forgot. So did I. Most of it was in my hair, not my skin, so that was a plus. But with every plus comes a minus-on the other side of the train tracks not only was grass, but cars and a not so far away a city.

"Where's Percy?" Thalia questions, picking a stick out of my hair.

"Here," a voice croaks walking over to us.

"Where were you?" I ask taking him in. His black hair was always messy but today…it's a rat's nest. His blue t-shirt was torn and hanging limply off his body. But for some reason, he was always smiling that it was almost annoying—I mean come _on _people, he's five. Why won't he, like, cry or throw a tantrum? I did pretty much a day ago.

Percy grins and holds up 3 tickets, "Ever taken the subway?"

"What's your story?" We're on the speeding subway of New York to some neighbourhood I guess. We had a little bit of trouble getting through, but eventually Thalia tricked him—she's getting seemingly good at twisting not only hers, but other people's words. We weren't surrounded by too many people seeing as its 3:00 a.m.

I look up at Percy questioningly. "Huh?"

"I said—"

I cut him off, "I know what you said."

He shrugs, "I have a story. I was sitting at home when Smelly Gabe got mad at me for not giving him my subway money so he picked me up, despite my mother's protests, and put me on a trip that took me to Illinois."

Thalia pouts and crosses her arms, "I was wrong," she mutters.

"You always are," I shrug.

Thalia clenches and unclenches her fists, "Jason, I swear—"

The subway screeches to a stop. Percy's face stretches into a grin. He jumps off his seat and runs off the subway Thalia and me hot on his heel. Once we're outside Percy's on GPS mode—he knows exactly where he's going. We follow him towards an apartment building. I push on the door but it doesn't budge.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Thalia roll her eyes. I stop pushing to glare at her. "What?" She walks up to the door pushing me aside and pulls it open.

"Learn to read, Jason."

I mutter incoherent words under my breath following my sister and cousin into the building. I follow Percy and Thalia into the small elevator. It had a grey floor and grey walls. I yawn under my breath. "Which button, Percy?" I ask, my finger wavering over the buttons.

"I'm going to press the button," Percy insists walking towards the buttons.

"But I'm standing right here," I

"My apartment, my building, and my rules: I always push the button."

"Exactly! Give someone else a chance!"

"No!" Percy stomps his foot.

Thalia, who looks a little green, walks over to the panel of buttons and pushes her thumb promptly on the three.

I frown at Thalia, "Are you okay, Thals?"

"I—" she takes a breath, "Just a little claustrophobic is all…and your petty arguments with your long lost cousin doesn't help either."

"Sorry Thalia," we both mumble. The metallic doors slide open and we all step out. To the left—a potted plant. To the right—several doors. The ground was carpeted and all of the doors were going by the 300's. Percy motions us down the hall to 313.

I looked down at his feet. Since when was he missing a shoe? Percy leans down and produces a silver key from underneath the door mat. He smiles at the key like it was an old picture before tossing the key to Thalia. Thalia, having great reflexes, catches it without a blink. Percy steps back and stands beside me off to the side allowing Thalia to step forward. So pushing the button in the elevator was a huge deal but opening the door to see his mother who I've assumed he hasn't seen in days was just a toss to Thalia—apparently.

Thalia slides the key into the slot and pushes the door open. She places the key back where we found it and the three of us step inside. Percy shuts the door and locks it as I look around. The kitchen was nice and small and to the right was a couch and a small TV and the smell. Every house had a distinctive smell. This one smelt like cookies. Percy looked like he wanted to melt right then and there. Percy begins to walk towards where I assumed the bedrooms were. I'm about to follow when I hear a scream of joy.

"Percy!"

Thalia and I exchange a look. Percy walks back out dragging a nice looking lady with him. Her long black hair wasn't nearly as messy as Percy's and her bright blue eyes didn't resemble Percy at all. But yet, they looked similar and I'm not sure why. I've met my dad and all I ever see in him is Thalia. Upturned nose piercing blue eyes, dark hair—I guess I got my blonde hair from my mom.

Percy's mom smiles at us and I glance at Thalia looking at her forced smile I do the same. "Hello, I'm Sally."

"Hi," Thalia says and I wave. "Um, we're Percy's cousins."

Sally's smile wavers. "Oh…are you sure?"

I nod, "Yup."

She glances down at Percy, "I…never told him that his dad was a, you know."

"That his dad was a god?" Thalia questioned and ally nodded. Thalia laughs a bit, "Our mother made us well assured that our dad was a god."

I nod again, "Yup."

"Poseidon is Percy's dad and his brother Zeus-y poo is our dad."

Sally full out frowns, "Oh."

I exchange a look with my sister. Were we a disappointment or something?

Percy, of course, breaks the tension, "Mum, can we have some pancakes?"

Thalia rolls her eyes and Sally stretches, "Percy it's 3 a.m., get some sleep okay? Show your friends to your room okay?"

"Okay."


End file.
